How I Met My Meister
by Keirou
Summary: Asgeirr Albarn, the older of the two Albarn brothers, is between meisters until a new student from Japan marches up. How will Nakamura Kamie deal with Asgeirr's smartass attitude? Collab-fic between Keirou and Merides, featuring Kami and Kei's OC Asgeirr.
1. Part 1 - Asgeirr

It was a good day as far as Asgeirr Albarn was concerned. His classes were over and he had some time to kill before he had to do anything else. The tall blond leaned against the wall in one of the hallways of Shibusen, hands in his pockets, just waiting. Those who knew him knew exactly what - or rather, who - he was waiting for, and it soon became apparent when he pushed himself off the wall and into the path of a redhead in a black school uniform.

"Spirit!" Asgeirr grinned down at his little brother. "Classes out yet?"

Spirit Albarn, who'd been walking with his head down and hands in his pockets, jerked back in surprise and looked up. "As! Uh, yeah, why?"

"Curious." Asgeirr flashed him a grin and put an arm around his shoulders, pulling him to one side and out of the general traffic flow. "Think you can ditch the weirdo for a while? There's a new place just opened up in the club district I want to show you."

_"Don't_ call my partner that," Spirit snapped reflexively, glowering up at his brother.

Asgeirr just laughed; Spirit had always been easy to rile, and it had just gotten easier when he'd been assigned to Stein. "Fine, fine, but answer the question. Can you?"

Spirit shrugged, still looking miffed. "Probably. He spends all his time in his room anyway, pretty much, I doubt he'd even noti-"

"Great!" Asgeirr interrupted, as though it were settled. "I'll drop by around eight, then, we'll grab some dinner and head out."

"Uh, As, we usually-" Spirit tried to talk, but Asgeirr just waved it away, shooting him a grin.

"Hold that thought," the blond weapon said, and looked over to where a young girl had been standing watching them. "Can I help you, missy?"

The girl marched over, in a way that Asgeirr found entirely too adorable. It was as if she thought she was bigger than she was - she barely came up to his chest. Looked Asian, and younger than Spirit, with her hair in braided pigtails and dark eyes glaring almost challengingly up at him from behind a pair of glasses. "You're a weapon, right?" she demanded.

Asgeirr blinked at her, then nodded. "yeah, why?"

"D'you have a meister?"

"No…" As could see where the conversation was going already, and couldn't quite keep an amused smile off his face. Well, at least she was up front about things.

The girl nodded to herself, as though pleased, then said about what Asgeirr had been expecting. "I need a weapon, you need a meister. Let's pair up."

The tall blond looked the girl up and down appraisingly. She had spunk, he had to give her that, and she was all but glaring at him as though daring him to say no. Turning away from his all-but-forgotten little brother - who looked irritated but unsurprised by the turn of events - Asgeirr gave the girl a teasing smirk. "We'll see if you can handle me," he said, his voice just smooth enough to add a double-meaning to his words.

As if on cue, the girl's face went bright red, and Asgeirr had to fight to keep from laughing. Another easy mark…oh, she'd be fun. "Gym's this way," he added, jerking his head in the general direction of down the hall and heading off.

Behind him he heard the girl stutter a moment before managing to speak. "R-r…Right!" Quick footsteps followed him, and soon she was walking beside him, staring straight forward and apparently trying to look like she wasn't blushing at all. Too cute.

"By the way. Asgeirr Albarn," he introduced himself, glancing down at her. "And you would be…?"

"Nakamu-…um. Kamie. Nakamura."

"Japanese, huh? Well, welcome to the States, Kamie Nakamura." Asgeirr glanced down at her and flashed another smirk as they entered the gym. "Let's get to know each other, shall we?"


	2. Part 2 - Kami

Her first day at Shibusen wasn't all it had been supposed to be. Kami had gotten lost twice, had to find replacement books for two classes, and on top of it all, had arrived at the location listed on the map to meet new weapons… only to find that the event had been moved. Still, she didn't let any of that get her down. After all - she'd been hand-picked from other meisters throughout Japan to come to Shibusen and train. She would become one of the best - not _the_ best, mind you, but one of the best. Kami didn't hold that much hope for herself. She only wanted to achieve personal greatness. A simple goal, she thought.

So it was no surprise that the little things didn't get her down. She had a positive, determined outlook on life. Therefore, the young meister, first day of her school years at Shibusen, marched down to the bulletin board where all the photos and names of Unmatched Weapons and Meisters were posted. It wasn't a very frequented board - some pages had rips and tears, dog-eared corners, folded edges… as if they'd been forgotten or ignored long enough that they had given up hope of ever being taken down.

Kami spent nearly an hour poring over the listings. There were few that caught her interest - some of the descriptions she saw, the self-promoting ads, the shameless pride, they disgusted her. Some of the others were so self-depreciating that she felt depressed just reading them.

A few caught her eye. She studied the papers, looking at the types of weapons available. Swords. Bows. Axes. Hammers. Staves. Spears. Guns. Scythes. Even a sling and a cannon were listed.

The type of weapon didn't rally matter to her at this point. She hadn't had enough combat training back home in Kyoto to make up her mind much. She knew she didn't want ranged weapons- but only because she was more of a type-A person than anything else. There would be no sitting back and sniping for THIS Nakamura daughter. Charging in, no regrets. That was more her style.

Finally she simply closed her eyes and pointed. There, under her finger, was the picture of a blonde, rugged teen with the hints of a scraggly beard. She removed her finger and read his name slowly, trying to pronounce the name. "Asu…geh..eerru… Aru…baan…" She sighed. These stupid American names and their ridiculous rules for pronunciation! They didn't even follow their own grammar rules half the time! Sighing again, louder this time, she read his profile. It was simple and straightforward,

"Weapon needs meister. Spear-type, gets on with both genders, willing to mentor a younger meister. Good sense of humor, enjoys having fun. Contact Asgeirr Albarn."

Well then. Time to find this guy.

After a bit of searching, she thought she spotted him. It wasn't hard - the young man towered a full head above just about everyone else - including the boy who had to be a brother or cousin or something. But she had eyes only for the broad-shouldered teen. Asu… As… no. Asgeuh… She sighed. She couldn't remember his name, or how to pronounce it!

And then, all of a sudden, he was looking at her. His voice was a deep tenor, ringing across the hallway. "Can I help you, missy?"

Kami steeled her nerves - what little tension she had she channeled into determination. She marched over to him, slinging her bag behind her and out of the way. "You're a weapon, right?" she asked, looking straight up to him.

Damn he was tall. He blinked once, (perhaps taken aback?) and then answered, "Yeah, why?"

"D'you have a meister?" She of course, knew the answer to this question, but she had to open the conversation somewhere.

"No…" He was still staring straight down at her. Big blue eyes and golden hair, like a norse god, straight down at her.

She should be intimidated, came the thought from the back of her mind. She pushed it aside nodded at him. "I need a weapon, you need a meister. Let's pair up."

Death, he was _smirking_ as he looked her up and down. What happened to "good sense of humor"? "We'll see if you can handle me," he finally said, emphasis on _handle_. Kami got the joke. Oh did she ever get what he was saying. _Perv._ Her face reddened despite her best efforts. Still, she'd committed, she'd see it through to the end. "Gym's this way," he added, and then took off!

"R-r-right!" she stuttered. Cursed mouth not working when self is embarrassed! She'd have to work on that. Hoisting her bag higher, she ran after him. She caught up in just a few steps and steeled her gaze. She wouldn't let him see that he'd had one on her. She refused to give him that ounce of pride. Now if only her face would stop betraying her.

"By the way. Asgeirr Albarn," he said, his big booming voice echoing the hall. "And you would be…?"

"Nakamu-…um. Kamie. Nakamura." Stupid American Language. Stupid swap of name order. Stupid accent. Stupid little stutter. Stupid! Baka! Baka! BA-KA!

"Japanese, huh? Well, welcome to the States, Kamie Nakamura. Let's get to know each other, shall we?"

_Yeah, that went well, Kami. Good job… _


	3. Part 3 - Resonance

Asgeirr turned and looked down at Kamie, still with a faint smirk. She really was cute, trying to pretend she hadn't been embarrassed by his comment at all. This one had potential. Since he'd gotten Spirit to write up the ad for the Pairings board he'd gotten a few bites, but none of them had been able either to keep up with him, to put up with him, or to resonate with him, all three of which were pretty important. Hell, he'd had one former archer ask to try; that hadn't turned out well. Though that did bring another question to mind…"So, how much of a newbie are you?"

Kami stiffened her shoulders. She did her best to keep the accent to a minimum. "I transferred here from Kyoto a week ago. I have been training back home in the spiritual aspect of being a meister for nearly three years now, under my grandfather, who was a meister years ago." She let a bit of pride trickle into her voice. "The Nakamura family is well known in my region as spiritually gifted, and we specialize in exorcisms." She looked up at him as they neared the door, surprised to meet his eyes. "But I wanted to travel here, to Shibusen, to train under Shinigami-sama, and learn from the best." She smiled at him, pure joy and determination replacing her former embarassment.

"Spiritual aspect?" Asgeirr echoed, thoughtfully. That was…very Oriental, wasn't it? He didn't know all that much about Japan, but the few Asians he'd met all seemed to have that in common. He wasn't quite sure what that meant, but was willing to bet one of the things was that she'd never actually fought before. Though, if her family specialized in exorcisms…Hm. As she looked up and met his eyes with that smile, though, the smart remark he'd been planning just sort of froze. That looked good on her…though the embarrassment earlier had been adorable. He flashed her a grin. "Well, you came to the right place. You been focusing on the spiritual aspect, so I won't bother going over it." His grin widened, a mischievous gleam in his blue eyes. "We'll skip straight to the physical."

Kami's eyes widened and she looked away quickly. "Fine then…" she muttered. She desperately glanced around, looking away while she knew her face turned the same color as her skirt. Why did he keep making these jokes? Was it an American thing? But before she could think on it any further, they'd reached the doorway to the gym.

Asgeirr didn't bother keeping his amusement to himself as she once again went bright red; really too easy. He chuckled softly and pushed the gym door open, gesturing almost gallantly for her to enter first. The gym was a large, open area with a high, vaulted ceiling and various sporting equipment stacked along the walls. A small section had already had mats pulled out over it, and he headed in that direction. "So have you ever had a weapon in your hands before?" he asked, the comment truthfully being completely innocent…it wasn't /his/ fault it could be taken a completely different way.

She stopped midway to the training mats and glared at him, her face flaming. What was it with this guy? Angrily, she lifted her bag of heavy books off her shoulder and threw it to the side of the room, making sure to let it slide somewhat so that the textbooks weren't damaged. Pushing her sleeves up her arms to her elbows, she stomped over and reached out her hand. "No," she grated, "I haven't. Now give me your hand. Let's see if we resonate."

Asgeirr raised an eyebrow as she stopped dead, sliding his hands casually into his pockets. Usually this was where most people just gave up, sick of his attitude. Was this girl going to turn out the same? He hoped not; that fire in her eyes had said something completely different about her. And then sure enough she rounded on him, glaring and holding her hand out. He looked at her for a long moment, eyes almost calculating, then just grinned. "Now that's more like it, Nakamura." He reached out his own hand to grab hers and, in a flash of light, shifted to his weapon form. One second Kami's hand had been held by a tall, blond teenager. The next she was holding a slender black spear, its point leaf-shaped and almost graceful in appearance.

Kami was surprised by his weight. The spear was perfectly balanced where she held it, firm and heavy. The black wood felt good in her hands, its smooth grain polished and shining, barely visible underneath the stain. The blade glinted in the light, deadly, fierce, eager, an embodiment of the spirit within the weapon itself.

Shifting her weight, she gripped the shaft with both hands and slowly began circling the weapon, moving gracefully through practiced steps that had been ingrained in her since childhood. She'd never held a weapon, sure, but martial arts was something practiced regularly at home by all members of the family. Floating steps led her through the slow motions of twists, thrusts and counters, lazy spins, and blocks.

If Asgeirr was surprised by the ease with which Kami held him, he didn't show it. There had been at least one meister who'd tried to pick him up and been unable to. As she began moving, getting a feel for how a polearm worked and how he in specific moved best, he gently began guiding her. A gentle push here, a nudge there, she had basic footwork already so she didn't need much. All she needed right now was to figure out how to incorporate him into it.

Kami felt the mental hands on top of hers, leading her in a dance of balance, ebb and flow. She reached out for that, trying to feel his soul as they moved together in harmony. She closed her eyes as the spear seemed to move of his own accord, simply using her as a means of providing that movement. She let him take over while she dove into her comfort zone- the mind.

The blackness swallowed her as she reached out for his soul. Her own small soul resonated within her, pulsing within her chest as she stretched out into the blinding dark, looking for the other mind that she knew resided in this vast deep.

And there he was waiting for her. Asgeirr's soul was larger than Kami's but that could be put down to a simple age difference. Still, there was power there, quiet and almost dignified; a sharp contrast to the snarky, sarcastic, smartmouthing jerk he'd seemed to be. Asgeirr held hidden depths, and now he was inviting her to see them if she so chose.

And choose she did. She reached out with her own soul, her determined strength ready to accept him, jerk that he was, if he'd have her. She was surprised at his gentleness, his stoic strength, that was in such sharp contrast to the outer shell that he wore. Had he actually been testing her? Or was he jaded to how others had treated him? She could sense the underlying sarcasm, but it was more a part of the whole. His sense of humor was skewed, sure, but his sense of justice wasn't. And that's what she wanted. Carefully, she reached out and touched him.

And in that instant she could understand his reasons, why he had acted as he had. If she couldn't handle him at his worst, then he didn't feel she deserved him at his best. It had been a test, and one she had passed with flying colors at that. His smile couldn't be seen physically here, but it could be felt; it was genuine, warm, different from the sardonic smirk he had worn earlier. There was the mental image of his hand touching hers, grabbing her wrist in a firm yet gentle grip, and then words, somehow at once both whispered and shouted. "Let's go, soul resonance!"


End file.
